B2B service innovation and global industrial service management

This special edition of IMM aims to develop knowledge and generate new insights and applications of service innovation in B2B context, and global industrial services management relevant to scholars and managers. This article briefly discusses the theme of the special issue, the compelling rationale for putting together the body of scholarship around the topic, and brief introduction of the articles featured in the issue, and their contributions to industrial marketing/B2B discourse. It also highlights some key future research directions.     

A service design perspective on the stakeholder engagement journey during B2B innovation: Challenges and future research agenda

Innovation in business-to-business (B2B) contexts deals with highly dynamic, complex, and heterogeneous constellations of stakeholders with a diversity of goals, motives, and capabilities that further challenge successful management of B2B innovation processes and outcomes. Complex challenges, such as sustainability and digitization trends, push these B2B firms to embrace new innovation methods that help them manage disruptive change. Service design thinking has emerged as an innovation management practice emphasizing a human-centered innovation process of user interactions, creativity, and learning mindsets. In this article, we aim to evaluate the challenges and develop a research agenda on how service design can effectively enable stakeholders' engagement during the B2B innovation process. We argue that to advance service design opportunities for stakeholder engagement, we need to address the unique complexities and challenges of stakeholder engagement during innovation from a systemic and dynamic process perspective. From a systemic perspective, we zoom in on the building blocks of stakeholder engagement and address multi-level stakeholder engagement platforms (i.e., innovation networks). From a dynamic process perspective, we treat stakeholder engagement as an emerging process and zoom in on the temporal and relational connections and hybrid orchestration to allow for both structural and emerging stakeholder engagement during innovation. We develop a stakeholder engagement journey in which we integrate service and innovation stages and propose how service design activities can support and facilitate the aforementioned challenges and complexities. Finally, we identify concrete research questions and, accordingly, develop a research agenda for future research on stakeholder engagement in B2B innovation trajectories.     

Green supply chain practices and environmental performance in Brazil: Survey,case studies,and implications for B2B

This article examines whether or not customers cooperate in organisations' environmental performance, in what circumstances it happens; and how customers can collaborate with organisations in order to they improve their environmental performance. This research uses both the Ecological Modernisation (EM) and the Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) to analyse the effects of external Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices, namely, ‘Cooperation with Customers’ (CC) and ‘Green Purchasing’ (GP) on the Environmental Performance (EP) of organisations. A multi-method research is used, combining a survey and multiple-case studies of Brazilian organisations. The main results and contributions of this research include: (a) the Brazilian setting, in the context of EM, provides incentives for adopting GSCM practices, especially CC practices; (b) Brazilian organisations depend more on customers than on suppliers to improve EP; and (c) an original matrix for a better understanding of the roles of suppliers and customers to achieve a better EP through a GSCM approach is proposed. This paper provides an extension to EM and RDT theories applied to green operations management by showing that external GSCM can improve EP and such process depends more on CC than GP. Implications for B2B are highlighted.     

Mapping the values in B2B relationships: A systemic, knowledge-based perspective

The management of an enduring relationship between provider and supplier has at its heart an implicit interaction between the valuation systems of the counterparts. We take the view that this interaction is conveniently understood through the lens of knowledge management. Knowledge management informs our treatment of business to business relationships through two mechanisms. It helps us manage better the dissemination and co-creation of knowledge in an organisation and new work in the mapping of knowledge allows us to represent the knowledge aspects of a relationship in a way which allows us to manage it better.We present, therefore, an approach to allow the specific representation of these valuation systems and their interaction, using a case study of the marketing of a nuclear submarine programme to a government. A conclusion is that structures which support the co-creation of knowledge between the companies is critical to winning the contract and we indicate how this co-creation can be engendered.     

A causal analysis of the impact of information systems and supply chain management practices on operational performance: Evidence from manufacturing SMEs in Turkey

This study has empirically tested a framework identifying the causal links among supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) practices, SCM–IS related inhibiting factors and operational performance based on a sample of 203 manufacturing SMEs operating in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and general purpose machinery within the greater metropolitan area of Istanbul in Turkey. Moderating effect of SCM and IS related enabling factors on the above mentioned relationships is also investigated in this study. Tests of hypotheses indicate that both SCM and IS practices positively and significantly influence the operational performance of sample firms. The results of the structural model also indicate a strong support for negative relationships between SCM–IS related inhibitors and the implementation levels of both SCM and IS practices. Similarly, a strong support was found for the hypothesized negative relationship between SCM–IS inhibitors and operational performance of SMEs. Finally, we verified the moderating impact of SCM–IS enablers on the link between SCM practices and operational performance. A similar moderating impact was also found with regard to the relationship between IS practices and operational performance.     

A service perspective on business relationships: The value creation, interaction and marketing interface

Adopting a service perspective or logic on business directs suppliers' focus in business relationships towards engaging with their customers' business processes. The purpose of this article is to analyze implications for value creation and marketing of adopting a service logic in business relationships. In the article it is demonstrated that a service perspective is multi-dimensional, enabling the mutual creation of value, with service as a mediating factor in that process. It is argued that value creation, purchasing, usage and marketing are intertwined processes. Here supplier-customer interactions are in a focal position. This perspective enables marketers to better understand how to develop and extend service offerings through assistance to customers' processes relevant to their businesses. Therefore, the underpinning logic of industrial interactions is analyzed in detail, extending marketing's conventional boundaries.     

Consumer involvement in supply networks: A cubic typology of C2B2C and C2B2B business models

Business models such as C2B and B2B2C, in which consumers get involved in companies' supply chains and business operations, are burgeoning in many industries. Academic research on the phenomenon is, however, lagging behind, and extant research has typically focused on just one or a few variants of such business models at a time. The present conceptual research addresses this research gap by developing a comprehensive typology that explicates and unpacks the full variety of consumer involvement types in supply networks of contemporary business models. The three-dimensional typology developed contributes to literature by identifying and integrating the relevant dimensions, which have been addressed in prior research only implicitly or in a piecemeal manner. This elucidates the full range and variety of the phenomenon to researchers. For managers, the three-dimensional, cubic typology offers a business development tool, facilitating the identification of altogether 56 alternative business models, wherein consumers may serve as suppliers of various inputs, including work, effort, and entrepreneurial activity; goods; platform goods; natural resources and energy; data, information, and knowledge; attention and presence; as well as money and capital.     

It's all B2B…and beyond: Toward a systems perspective of the market

The delineation of B2B from ‘mainstream’ marketing reflects the limitations of the traditional, goods-dominant (G-D) model of exchange and a conceptualization of value creation based on the ‘producer’ versus ‘consumer’ divide. Service-dominant (S-D) logic broadens the perspective of exchange and value creation and implies that all social and economic actors engaged in exchange (e.g., firms, customers, etc.) are service-providing, value-creating enterprises; thus, in this sense, all exchange can be considered B2B. From this perspective, the contributions of B2B marketing (and other sub-disciplines) can be seen as applicable to ‘mainstream’ marketing. This generic, actor-to-actor (A2A) orientation, in turn, points toward a dynamic, networked and systems orientation to value creation. This article discusses this systems-oriented framework and elaborates the steps necessary for developing it further into a general theory of the market, informed by the marketing sub-disciplines, marketing practices, and disciplines external to marketing.     

Inter-partner control,trust, and radical innovation of IJVs in China: A contingent governance perspective

International joint ventures (IJVs) in emerging markets need to develop radical innovation to compete successfully in the rapidly changing business landscapes there. Taking a contingent governance perspective, this study examines how formal and social governance mechanisms, namely inter-partner control and inter-partner trust, affect radical innovation development in IJVs through knowledge acquisition and integration, and how emerging market institutional governance structures moderate the effectiveness of the two internal governance mechanisms. Based on a sample of 181 IJVs in China, we find that both inter-partner control and inter-partner trust promote IJV radical innovation; moreover, legal enforceability weakens the impact of inter-partner control but strengthens that of inter-partner trust on IJV radical innovation; likewise, government intervention risk weakens the positive role of inter-partner control yet strengthens that of inter-partner trust. This study extends both the innovation and IJV governance literature by connecting governance mechanisms to IJV radical innovation and uncovering important institutional contingencies.     

Leadership, the buying center, and supply chain performance: A study of linked users, buyers, and suppliers

With conceptual foundations taken from leadership theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this study examines the influence of transactional and transformational leadership on the relationship between the value of the corporate buying center and performance in supply chains. The sample consists of 58 directly linked and matched supply chains, each composed of one user (internal customer), one corporate buyer, and one external supplier. The results indicate that transformational leadership has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the value of the corporate buying center and performance, while transactional leadership negatively moderates this relationship. Two “localness” dimensions (formalization and centralization) and two “openness” dimensions (participative and reflective) were included as controls in the analysis.     

The impact of information technology on supply chain capabilities and firm performance: A resource-based view

Organizations increasingly rely on information technology (IT) to improve the supply chain process. Yet, past evidence suggests that the investment in IT per se does not guarantee enhanced organizational performance. Drawing from the resource-based view, this study proposes that IT-enabled supply chain capabilities are firm-specific, and hard-to-copy across organizations. These capabilities can serve as a catalyst in transforming IT-related resources into higher value for a firm. Based on data collected from surveying supply chain and logistics managers in various industries, the present study sheds light on these issues. The findings provide a new perspective in evaluating IT investment in the supply chain process.     

Communicative skills that support value creation: A study of B2B interactions between customers and customer service representatives

Although interaction has been acknowledged as central in value creation there is still a lack of empirical studies on how value creation is accomplished in practice, and in particular how communicative skills support customers' value creation. The purpose of this paper is therefore to generate a deeper understanding of how customer service representatives' communicative skills in conversations with customers support customers' value creation. We argue that value creating processes correspond to customers' roles as “feelers”, “thinkers” and “doers”. Accordingly, value creation involves three interdependent elements, an emotional, a cognitive and a behavioral. Based on a qualitative research design, drawing on an empirical study of 80 telephone conversations between customers and customer service representatives in a business-to-business context, the paper demonstrates three communicative skills that are essential in supporting customers' value creation: attentiveness, perceptiveness and responsiveness. The findings show how employees, by means of these communicative skills support customers' value creation. Attentiveness supports cognitive elements of the customers' value creating processes, whereas perceptiveness supports value creation in terms of cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects. Finally, responsiveness supports the customer's cognitive as well as behavioral value creation.     

A process-oriented perspective on customer relationship management and organizational performance: An empirical investigation

Research on the CRM-performance link has been fragmented due to various perspectives on CRM. This study, considering different concepts of CRM, proposes a process-oriented framework for examining the relationship among CRM resources, CRM process capabilities, and organizational performance. Based on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, CRM resources are classified as “technological CRM resources” and “infrastructural CRM resources”. Data from 77 Iranian Internet service provider firms were gathered in a field survey. The empirical work indicates that the measured constructs demonstrate key psychometric properties including reliability and validity. The results reveal that CRM processes are more affected by infrastructural CRM resources rather than technological CRM resources. Moreover, the findings indicate that firms with improved CRM process capabilities enjoy better organizational performance.     

Information technology resources,innovativeness, and supply chain capabilities as drivers of business performance: A retrospective and future research directions

Four articles considered among the Industrial Marketing Management citation classics developed frameworks that aimed to capture the factors contributing to the business performance of a firm. In this paper, we provide an overview of the developments in the field since their publication more than ten years ago and explore avenues for future research. First, we provide a retrospective on the original articles and provide a brief literature review regarding how the business performance research has evolved since then. Second, we identify potential research gaps and provide future research directions with respect to resources and capabilities that drive performance. Finally, we provide our perspective regarding other factors that could influence firm performance and other firm performance measures that should be considered by future research.     

A new perspective on open innovation: established and new technology firms in UK bio‐pharmaceuticals

The aim of this paper is to explore open innovation (OI) implementation and its impact on firm innovation performance in sectors experiencing technological discontinuities. The paper employs the framework of inbound, outbound and coupled OI to identify processes reflecting sourcing, externalising and exchanging knowledge across organisational boundaries on upstream and downstream innovation activities and explores their impact on the innovation performance of new and established technology firms. The empirical setting is the UK bio‐pharmaceuticals sector during 1991 and 2001, a paradigmatic era of discontinous change and intensified OI implementation. First, our findings show that new technology firms (NTFs) and established technology firms (ETFs) differ in their extent and patterns of inbound, outbound and coupled OI, reflecting that they implement OI to manage their competences in light of technological change. Second, we identify a complex and multifaceted relationship between OI and patenting performance, with NTFs experiencing enhanced performance from some OI processes while ETFs experiencing challenges. The paper suggests that delineating OI into inbound, outbound and coupled, along upstream and downstream activities, offers a deeper understanding of the role of OI in innovation, guiding selective implementation in pursuing enhanced innovation performance during periods of discontinuous technological change.     

The adoption of technological innovations in a B2B context and its impact on firm performance: An ethical leadership perspective

The introduction of the digital economy has opened much discussion on the various business models that challenge traditional thinking in B2B marketing. This includes technological innovation in the digital space which has brought about theoretical changes in the way marketing is applied, more so in the B2B environment where communication is essential in the alignment with various stakeholders. Several discussions on ethical leadership in the digital economy have provided some insights into addressing increased complexity in a society where markets are connected (physically) yet disconnected (proximity) and this has led marketing practices going astray. Our paper proposes the relevance of ethical leadership and its role in the application of technological innovation by arguing that technological innovation has a positive impact on firm performance and that ethical leadership plays a critical role in moderating this effect. We use a dynamic panel data system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) approach to examine secondary data from 465 IT service companies and demonstrate that ethical leadership plays a critical role as it enables innovation through technology, and this has an impact on the firm's performance.     

Return on marketing investments in B2B customer relationships: A decision-making and optimization approach

The basic notion of relationship marketing entails that firms should strive for mutually beneficial customer relationships. By combining relationship marketing theory and operations research methods, this paper aims to develop and demonstrate a managerial decision-making model that business market managers can use to optimize and evaluate marketing investments in both a customer-oriented and economically feasible manner. The intended contributions of our work are as follows. First, we add to the return on marketing literature by providing a first decision-making approach that explicitly assesses the optimization of marketing investments in terms of profitability, effort, and resource allocation. Second, we show how the risk of marketing investments can be assessed using sensitivity analysis. By means of an empirical study the versatility of our decision-making approach is demonstrated by assessing various critical decision making issues for business marketing managers in detail.     

Use of celebrity and non-celebrity persons in B2B advertisements: Effects on attention,recall, and hedonic and utilitarian attitudes

Images of people are often featured in business-to-business print advertisements. In some cases, person images in B2B ads may be perceived as having little or no pragmatic purpose in promoting the brand or product. The current research examines the effects of the presence of a celebrity or non-celebrity person in a B2B print ad on attention to the ad, hedonic and utilitarian attitudes towards the ad, and on aided brand recall. An eye-tracking study featured three experimental B2B ad conditions (i.e., no person, non-celebrity person, and celebrity person) conducted with business managers. The findings of this study suggest that while the presence of a celebrity endorser causes managers to pay more attention to the ad, the increase in time focusing on the advertisement brings about more negative hedonic attitudes towards the ad. Further, a celebrity endorser can reduce utilitarian attitudes towards the ad. An ad featuring a non-celebrity produced the highest brand recall.     

B2B brands on Twitter: Engaging users with a varying combination of social media content objectives,strategies, and tactics

The objective of this research is to increase understanding about B2B company-led user engagement on social media content. Building on hierarchy-of-effects (HoE) theory, we explore how the world’s leading B2B companies use content objectives (why), strategies (how), and tactics (what) on Twitter. We first integrate B2B advertising and social media research on companies’ content objectives, strategies, and tactics. Then, using qualitative analyses, we examine the existence of objectives, strategies, and tactics in the most engaging tweets (N = 365) of the worlds’ ten leading B2B brands, covering five industries, in 2017. Finally, we quantitatively examine how the use of diverse objectives and strategies differs between the most engaging tweets (N = 318) and least engaging tweets (N = 229) of the companies in 2018. The companies use objectives, strategies and tactics that relate to creating awareness, knowledge and trust, interest, and liking in the majority of their most and least engaging tweets, and express preference, conviction and purchase aspects much less. Differences exist in general, industry-wise, and company-wise. The study is a rare attempt to integrate the extant B2B advertising and social media research, and compare the most and least engaging B2B social media content.